UK Delays 4G Until 2011
The UK government has admitted that the auction for 4G frequencies is unlikely to happen before 2011.
The auction was originally scheduled to take place in 2008 but was delayed by legal challenges from UK mobile phone companies T-Mobile and O2.
The legal challenges revolve around which frequencies bands can be used for 3G and 2G phones services after 4G is introduced.
4G Phone UK Test
UK mobile operator, O2, is trialling a 4G phone network in the town of Slough.
O2 is using Chinese company Huawei as its technology partner in the 4G test which uses six mobile phone towers across the town to provide the network.
Assuming the trials go well, a 4G UK mobile phone network could start becoming a reality in 2011.
UK 4G Coming
UK mobile phone operator O2 is expecting have a test 4G mobile network running by the summer of 2010.
The parent company of O2, Telefonica, has already announced 4G tests for the UK and five other countries of the next generation of mobile broadband technology.
The LTE trials will be the first carried out by any UK mobile phone operator – although Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone have said they intend to roll out 4G networks in the future.
